The Pashtunistan Issue

Amir Abdur Rahman had bitterly resented the Durand Line and none of his
successors relinquished the notion of Pashtun unity even as they cooperated with
the British government on other matters. Eventually, the line dividing the
Pashtun people became extremely contentious to the governments of both
Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Although the issue became most vexing during partition, British policy in the
area before 1947 also aggravated the Pashtunistan problem. In 1901 the British
had created a new administrative area, the North-West Frontier Province, which
they detached from the Punjab. This new province was divided into Settled
Districts and Tribal Agencies, with the latter ruled by a British political
agent who reported directly to Delhi.

In 1934 Britain extended self-government to the North-West Frontier Province.
By this time, the Indian National Congress (Congress Party), which many Muslims
saw as a predominately Hindu organization, had expanded its political activities
to include the province. The links between the political leaders of the
North-West Frontier Province and the Hindu leaders of Congress were such that a
majority in the North-West Frontier Province assembly originally voted to go
with India in the partition, a decision which probably would have been rejected
by the voting majority in the province. In July 1947, the British held a
referendum in the Settled Districts of the province offering the population the
choice of either joining an independent India or a now-inevitable Pakistan. An
estimated 56 percent of the eligible voters participated and over 90 percent
elected to join Pakistan. A loya jirgah was held in the Tribal Agencies. Offered
a choice between joining India or Pakistan, the tribes declared their preference
for the latter.

Although both Afghanistan and Pakistan made conciliatory gestures, the matter
remained unresolved. In one of the government's attempts to suppress tribal
uprisings in 1949, a Pakistani air force plane bombed a village just across the
frontier. In response, the Afghan government called a loya jirgah, which
promptly declared that it recognized "neither the imaginary Durand nor any
similar line" and that all agreements--from the 1893 Durand agreement
onward--pertaining to the issue were void. Irregular forces led by a local
Pashtun leader crossed the border in 1950 and 1951 to back Afghan claims.
Pakistan's government refused to accept the Afghan assertion that it had no
control over these men, and both nations' ambassadors were withdrawn, but were
exchanged again a few months later.

The issue of an international boundary through Pashtun areas was of great
importance to policymakers in Kabul. Pakistan halted vital transshipments of
petroleum to Afghanistan for about three months in 1950, presumably in
retaliation for Afghan tribal attacks across the border. At this time, Afghan
government interest shifted to offers of aid from the Soviet Union and in July
1950 it signed a major agreement with the Soviet Union.